#VESTICollective : Creative Conversations Series 01

IRA GIORGETTI

London based photographer Ira Giorgetti shares his insights on how art and creativity can foster better solutions to personal and community based problems. Taking us into his world of photography, inspirations, and creative production - this Pride movement ally surely motivates us to take action and explore our own creative worlds. Read on to know his thoughts.

What is ‘Art’ in terms of your chosen career?

Art is a very difficult word to describe succinctly, as the definition escapes the bounds of objectivity. Art the way I see it is a combination of intent, context, execution, and medium that come together to form an expression of an idea whose interpretation is open but guided.

Photographers often have to straddle the fine line between art and commerce in their work, as they are commissioned both for their technical experience as well as their own subjective vision. The photographic industry has many branches and niches but at the end of the day photographers are hired to show something to an audience in a way that blends their unique perspective with that of the commissioner’s intent. From the experimentation and play of editorial and conceptual photography all the way down to the precision and consistency of e-commerce photography, a photographer’s purpose is to communicate a visual message clearly, attractively, and memorably as possible.

How does creativity lead your life?

Most people don’t know this, but I actually do dabble quite a lot in different fields! I often have to take on art direction roles for my work, and I also do bits and bobs of copy here and there especially for my own branding and marketing - I actually designed and wrote everything on both my websites!

Professional applications aside, the chase for the aesthetically pleasing lends itself to how I design the spaces I inhabit as well as how I present myself and my work to people both lay and industry insider. I don't think creative people can switch their creativity off very easily, as my partner tells me when I’m doing research and moodboarding past midnight on a Thursday!

I also cook for my household six nights a week, and we’re talking gratins and cassoulets and vindaloos and risottos here! My partner’s got a very discerning palette, so I usually have to work extra hard in the kitchen ;)

Where and how do you get inspired?

The internet is a great place to find other artists who produce work you admire or perhaps employ specific methods or mediums you might take an interest in. Word of fair warning though, the internet is also a cesspool of hate and indifference and more often than not it’s a time pit of wasted hours rather than a spring of inspiration.

I like to frequent museums and galleries when I can, to draw inspiration from contemporary and historical sources. Tim Walker’s exhibit at the V&A was one of my recent favourites, and the Design Museum in Kensington’s always got something good on.

I also draw a lot of support and inspiration from mentors, of whom I’m currently trying to build a strong network of. I’m also about to embark on the journey of mentoring others as well, as I’ve been told it’s quite a fulfilling (and inspiring) thing to do!

Ira Giorgetti’s sample works

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In this current global crisis, what do you think is the importance of being a creative?

Could you imagine a world without Netflix or Spotify? A world where Instagram was only filled with flatlays of people’s lunches and where everything you read online was a news article or scientific journal? That’s the world you’d have without creatives.

Nowadays creativity is being oversupervised and macromanaged, devalued to the point of no return and being put on the back foot in terms of opportunities for education and entry to the workforce. The problem lies with the subjectivity of art and its inherent lack of quantitative data in relation to progress and success. It’s easy enough to be a banker or a lawyer or a physiotherapist or a mortgage broker - you’re mostly dealing with numbers and projections and hours billed and other easily counted things. Creatives have a much harder time proving their value and claiming their spot in their niches as most things come down to individual interpretation.

I would argue however that there has never been a more important time to invest in creatives and their work, whether this be in the form of creative solutions to problems of communication, i.e. how do we get everyone to wear a damned face mask, or perhaps creative expressions that help ease the growing global anxiety over the future of our now shattered ideas of what our futures were supposed to be. There are so many avenues and applications for creativity, and even if it’s not the main focus of someone's life I think it’s extremely important for everyone to exercise their innate human ability to create in some form or another and share what they create with the world and the people in it.

What do you hope to see and accomplish in the near future?

Honestly? A vaccine, so that all this craziness can start coming to a close.

But in truth what I’d like to see is more openness, more courage, and more understanding in the creative community. Times are tough, more so for some than others, but the only way through this is with open minds and all together.

Things seem bleak and most people feel fearful rather than hopeful, but it’s always worth remembering that there’s a blue sky behind all those storm clouds and that you’ve got the same number of hours in a day as Beyoncé, so get your feet on the ground and start creating!

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